As we celebrate Father’s Day this Sunday, it’s important to acknowledge the role fathers play in a gender-equal workforce. With women typically seen as the primary caregivers, fathers can often be forgotten when organisations create parental leave and flexible work policies.

“More and more young men, and older men, are wanting to have access to flexible work and unfortunately organisations aren’t quite keeping up with the pace,” says South Australia’s Commissioner for Equal Opportunity Niki Vincent.

It is clear that companies not only need to be more progressive with their leave policies, but actively encourage fathers to take time off to care for their children. The Guardian recently wrapped up a series about the power of paternity leave, highlighting the many positives it has on fathers.

In the spirit of celebrating the many fathers in the workforce, we want to shine a spotlight on just some of our Employer Partners that offer progressive leave policies that allow fathers to spend time with their children. We wish we could mention everyone! Because all our partners offer progressive policies and value diversity, inclusion and flexibility.

Australia

Consulting firm KPMG has generous leave policies as well as many options for flexible work.

• Flexible work options: options include variation to hours, part-time work, job sharing, working from home and gradual re-entry/exit arrangements.
• Career breaks: take advantage of unpaid leave for periods from 3 to 12 months to pursue other interests without sacrificing your career.
• Paid parental leave: up to 12 weeks paid parental leave for primary caregivers. KPMG’s parental leave policy allows up to 18 weeks leave for primary caregivers and 3 weeks for non-primary caregivers.

Thinking of applying at KPMG? Check out their open available here.

Lendlease has continued to be awarded the prestigious WGEA Employer of Choice citation since 2016. You can read more about Lendlease employees’ experiences taking parental leave here.

Some of their employee benefits include:

• Flexible work options: arrangements such as flexible working hours, moving to part-time hours and/or job sharing
• Paid parental leave: the parent – whether they’re male or female – is entitled to 18 weeks paid primary carer leave at any point in the 52 weeks since their baby was born. If both parents work for the company they can tag-team their primary carers leave to help look after their child

Thinking of applying at Lendlease? Check out their open roles here.

Commonwealth Bank has some generous leave policies, including assisting with childcare.

• Flexible work options: CBA encourages you to see work as just one part of your active, balanced lifestyle, with multiple flexible working arrangements and leave options to help you juggle your work and personal circumstances
• Paid parental leave: Primary carers are entitled to 18 weeks of paid leave; secondary carers are offered 4 weeks of paid leave. In addition, they now have the option to switch to a primary carer role and receive the full 12-week leave entitlement. CBA also provides a $1,500 return-to-work benefit for primary carers, and superannuation will continue to be paid to primary carers for 52 weeks
• Parental support: We provide access to the CommBank [email protected] Program which provides support and resources for parents to help them prepare for parental leave, return to work, manage their career as a working parent and balance home and work demands.

Interested in applying to work at Commonwealth Bank? Check out their available roles here.

New Zealand

Australian and New Zealand employees can take advantage of Aurecon’s benefits, such as:

• Paid parental leave: Aurecon offers 14 weeks of paid parental leave, although employees can take up to 52 weeks of leave in total if parental leave is combined with other forms of leave
• Shared Care benefit: if an Aurecon employee takes over as their child’s primary carer when their partner returns to work, they will then be able to access the organisation’s paid parental leave benefit. An Aurecon employee can receive 150% of their salary if they return to work and their partner is the primary carer for their child, but their partner cannot receive paid primary carers’ leave from their own employer. If both parents work for Aurecon, they can both access the organisation’s paid parental leave arrangement. The scheme is available to birth parents, adoptive parents, foster parents and same-sex parents who have six months’ continuous service at the organisation, and it applies in the first year of a child’s life

Interested in applying to work at Aurecon? Check out their available roles here.

As one of New Zealand’s largest communications providers, Vodafone offers generous benefits to parents.

• Flexible work options: the Vodafone Way of Working ensures every member of the organisation is equipped with the tools and trust to perform at their best. Vodafone employees work in state of the art buildings that support a flexible and sustainable work culture. You can also enjoy “an outputs, not attendance” approach that empowers you to work wherever and whenever you need to in order to get the outcomes our customers deserve
• Paid parental leave: Vodafone’s Phased Return to Work scheme gives new parents the flexibility to spend more time with their baby (or babies!). In addition to this, Vodafone adds to the New Zealand government’s paid parental leave entitlement of 22 weeks to top you up to 100% of your normal earning. They also offer two weeks of paid paternity/partner’s leave to our employees supporting their partner in those first weeks

Interested in applying for a job at Vodafone? Check out their available roles here.

Contact Energy is one of New Zealand’s largest listed companies and offers generous leave benefits:

• Flexible working options: As well as the standard sick and bereavement leave entitlements, Contact will be as accommodating as they can because your wellbeing and life outside of work is important. This includes an opportunity each year to purchase additional leave. If it’s practical, they are also open to providing flexible arrangements such as working from home, or flexible working hours
• Paid parental leave: New Zealand employees are able to receive up to 22 weeks of paid parental leave as of 1 July 2018

Interested in applying for a job at Contact Energy? Check out their available roles here.